...and it might not even be precisely to the issue you stated here, but these are my impressions. Bear with me.
I think intent in anything we write has a lot to do with it, at least for me. I'm not one of those people who believe in writing only what you know...but rather, know what you write and if it's a sensitive subject to do it with respect, conscientiousness, and for the right reasons. After that, you can't control how other people react to things, you are just left with if your own conscience is clear.
I've had people claim they threw my books against the wall because they found how I handled things to be profoundly disgusting. That's fine. I didn't write my books to please everybody, surprise surprise, and I took what I wrote very seriously and gave it much, much thought...likely more thought than most people in this genre give to those issues, if I can go out on a limb. And considering the people who have responded to me in a positive manner are/were people with experience in some of the issues I wrote about (I have never gotten a negative response from anyone who has even a passing experience with violent trauma), I'm more willing to accept their criticism than that of someone who is going at it from a different (purely academic) angle.
Then there are the other issues, like that of sexuality in my work. I've had one, maybe two, negative responses about it, and an overwhelming positive. I'm not one that thinks the majority rules all the time either, but I looked to the reasons people said they liked or didn't like what I did. I can be pretty detached from my work, so the reasons people stated were always interesting... because the ones who tended to be offended were people who took a rather narrow view of the issue and it came down to people's individual experiences and it was less about my work and more about their lives. Which isn't to say they didn't have valid emotions or reactions...they were just reactions that actually had very little to do with the work itself.
Over time I have found that some readers believe that if they were in my character's situation, they would react differently and therefore their reaction would be more realistic (and my characters are not). This, of course, isn't reality...as people are different and respond to things differently depending on their psychological makeup. But we do identify or not identify with characters (whether in books or dramatic works) and the great test as an audience is to put yourself in someone else's shoes and try to understand someone who may or may not be vastly different from you. That's where a lot of controversy comes in when those issues involve sensitive subject matter.
I've experienced pretty blatant racism in my life, from a very young age. Naturally if I was reading about a character experiencing racism I would have a strong gut reaction to it, but the test for me, as the reader/audience, would be to set aside my personal experience as much as possible and read the book in the context of the character. This is the great gift and communication of books and films, I think. It's how I approach my work, at any rate. They are supposed to test our points of view and allow us to question them in a safe environment, and hopefully give us something new and worthwhile to consider.
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branchandroot
I am only responding from my limited experience...
Date: 2009-01-19 08:56 pm (UTC)I think intent in anything we write has a lot to do with it, at least for me. I'm not one of those people who believe in writing only what you know...but rather, know what you write and if it's a sensitive subject to do it with respect, conscientiousness, and for the right reasons. After that, you can't control how other people react to things, you are just left with if your own conscience is clear.
I've had people claim they threw my books against the wall because they found how I handled things to be profoundly disgusting. That's fine. I didn't write my books to please everybody, surprise surprise, and I took what I wrote very seriously and gave it much, much thought...likely more thought than most people in this genre give to those issues, if I can go out on a limb. And considering the people who have responded to me in a positive manner are/were people with experience in some of the issues I wrote about (I have never gotten a negative response from anyone who has even a passing experience with violent trauma), I'm more willing to accept their criticism than that of someone who is going at it from a different (purely academic) angle.
Then there are the other issues, like that of sexuality in my work. I've had one, maybe two, negative responses about it, and an overwhelming positive. I'm not one that thinks the majority rules all the time either, but I looked to the reasons people said they liked or didn't like what I did. I can be pretty detached from my work, so the reasons people stated were always interesting... because the ones who tended to be offended were people who took a rather narrow view of the issue and it came down to people's individual experiences and it was less about my work and more about their lives. Which isn't to say they didn't have valid emotions or reactions...they were just reactions that actually had very little to do with the work itself.
Over time I have found that some readers believe that if they were in my character's situation, they would react differently and therefore their reaction would be more realistic (and my characters are not). This, of course, isn't reality...as people are different and respond to things differently depending on their psychological makeup. But we do identify or not identify with characters (whether in books or dramatic works) and the great test as an audience is to put yourself in someone else's shoes and try to understand someone who may or may not be vastly different from you. That's where a lot of controversy comes in when those issues involve sensitive subject matter.
I've experienced pretty blatant racism in my life, from a very young age. Naturally if I was reading about a character experiencing racism I would have a strong gut reaction to it, but the test for me, as the reader/audience, would be to set aside my personal experience as much as possible and read the book in the context of the character. This is the great gift and communication of books and films, I think. It's how I approach my work, at any rate. They are supposed to test our points of view and allow us to question them in a safe environment, and hopefully give us something new and worthwhile to consider.